Fired all my guys today

[BC&C NY]

Are there any real carpenters that are looking to work hard, make logical decisions, have a truck with tools and speak english out there?

[kreg McMahon]

no senior, but I do have a festool........

well sometimes you just have to do what you have to do... I am sure that you can find some better guys... hey about toolwhore... do you pay relocation cost?

[Toolwhore]

How about a 180 turn on that thought.
Are there any GC's out there looking for hard working, logical decision making carpenters, with a truck and more tools than they have, speaks English fluently, that are willing to pay a decent wage and keep someone busy? I'm ready to tell my boss to pound sand.

Edit - Dang Kreg. You beat me to it. :)

[BC&C NY]

Forget festool...I have had a atf 55 for almost 7 years I have almost all of the thier other tools.. I want a Martin or an Altendorf slider, not as easy to hide from the wife, but as long as I can justify it she'll be o.k.. I have to build her a new kitchen in the next year so she's almost sold on the Idea..

I can't find anyone that can do technical, high end work efficiently.. or even middle of the road work like installing striated shingles at a 14" exposure... Maybe I am asking for too much.. I just can't see charging more money for other peoples in efficencies, just so I can make a profit.. So now I will trabajo solomente amigo.. I tried using amigos after all the lazy white boys got fired or quit. The communication breakdowns were horrible.. All I expect is perfection and efficency.. and to work a productive eight hour day.

[BC&C NY]

toolho,
are you sure you have more tools? What do you need per hour to make you happy?

[Dancing Dan]

Bjorn - are you training your guys? Maybe you need to start w/ someone younger, if you have the patience.

[Toolwhore]

BC&C NY,

I'm sure there are many GC's that have more tools, but I have more than anyone I've worked for in the last couple of years.
A living wage is all I ask. I'm loosing my a$$ out here. Work is pathetically slow, and the invasion from the south has driven wages to around what they were in 1990. This is also one of the most expensive places in the country to live. I paid over $4.00 a gal. for gas this morning. If I told you how my work day went today, most here would have a hard time believing it, and it was a typical day like most of them have been for the last few months.

[BC&C NY]

That's why I had a lead carpenter. I used to have my brother working for me and I taught him everything I could, he went to work for a commericial kitchen design co. last year. Since then I got out of the field and into the office, selling and estimating jobs and trying to manage 3-5 men. I realized that every sub I hired in the past year that the owner actually worked the quality was good and there were no problems to speak of. The ones that were just "Owners" and out of the field had so many problems it was ridiculous. I guess if you had the right people it would work or if you don't care about perfection or trying to reach for it, it works. Or if you are really good at managing people...

[BC&C NY]

Tom,

Move to the North East.. people are getting sick of the lazy 1/2 of a GC's that run sloppy businesses here.. Have fancy names and mucho amigos doing less than par work.

[David Meiland]

Bjorn, I feel your pain. I have tried diligently to expand my crew with good guys and I'm batting about .200. If you swing enough you will get some hits, and I have a few, but it is agonizingly hard. You should pick up Tom, get him out of Califerny for a while. Or maybe I should.

[BC&C NY]

I plan on working on my management technique, yet with out the right people you are better off doing your own work if you want quality and efficency..

[MarkNov]

Are there any real carpenters that are looking to work hard, make logical decisions, have a truck with tools and speak English out there?

Yeah, I am and have all that. In addition, I am efficient with sufficient capital and, I believe, do quality work.

What do I need you for???

Regards
Mark

[BeachBoy]

My drywall sub finished hanging 400 sheets Thursday. On Friday I went back into the wall in three areas to change some central vac work. In two of those areas (and behind an access panel elsewhere) I found beer bottles and beer cans. The sub doesn't understand why I hired a new sub on Sunday to do the taping and mudding. (I wonder if I'll have any luck finding the rest of the cans and bottles with a Thermal imager?)

The lead is a 23 year old 3rd generation drywaller trying to run his father's business. He stood around watching his crew of 10 work while he did nothing. They ran out of nails and stood around while he went to the store to get another box. He was nowhere to be seen when the corner bead guy ran out of corner bead and I had to go get it so he would finish rather than leaving. Said he'd do the cleanup on Friday. I had to pull in a crew on Saturday to do it so the other trades could continue their work. His workers don't respect him (or they wouldn't do what they did with the cans and bottles) and he probably won't make it long term because he 'just doesn't get it'.

Good workers/subs are hard to find. But they do exist and if you keep looking you'll eventually find the good, reliable ones. With regard to workers, usually you have to train them yourself and then once their skills have improved they can command more $$ and will eventually leave. (There is almost always someone desperate enough for good, trained people who will pay them more than you are paying them and your workers will eventually figure that out). But if you keep their pay and benefits commensurate with their skills and maintain a good work environment, they'll stick around for quite a while. Just be sure you hire and start training their replacement when you start seeing the 'restless' signs. Should have a backup employee anyway. I always figure I did a good job selecting and training my guys when they go on to a better job with more responsibility and $$, (although I don't like losing them...)

[caddis]

The good thing about this crappy economy is that there should be more quality workers looking for a good, secure job. I am taking the opportunity to find good help. Just fired an employee who was less than adequate, am interviewing his replacement. I've gotten tons of good looking resumes from Craigslist.

[Dick Seibert]

...installing striated shingles at a 14" exposure...

Tom, off subject but if by " 14" striated shingles" you mean what we use to call "Zephyr Shingles" can you tell me the brand you are using? I put those up in the 50s and 60s and nobody knows about them anymore, they are a great product and I see 50 year old jobs that still look good, look good that is if some idiot hasn't painted them. I've even called the Red Cedar Shingle and Shake Bureau and they don't seem to know what I'm talking about.